Cats and Guns
by Dragongirl224
Summary: What starts as a simple mission to find off-world allies turns into a new team member for Sheppard, a new headache for Rodney, and a sparring partner that can actually beat him for Ronnon. OCXRonnon
1. Mission Recruit

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING about this except for Katerina and the events surrounding her life**

_Author note: I don't think this story is that good, but if you do like it, please review! I'll post a couple chapters, but I want to have people reading it before I put too much up_

She pulled the cobwebs aside, and took the first step into the dank cave. Having been the last member of her race, she had learned to defend herself quite well, but the confinement of the dank cave made her uneasy.

She pulled down the branches that had been covering the cave, and curled into a corner of the cave, shivering in the bone-deep cold that came with sun down.

_~~~  
><em>Rodney was excited. Rodney was so excited that he burst into Weir, Sheppard and Teyla talking in Weir's office.

"Rodney what's wrong?" Asked Weir, standing up from her chair

"I know that look. Nothing is wrong. He just found some sort of sciency thing in one of the labs." Said Sheppard, getting a raised eyebrow from Teyla.

"Yes I did! When the Ancients had control of Atlantis, long before the wraith happened, and they were just starting on their genetic experiments, they came up with a way of creating a sort of hybrid of predator and human intelligence and-"

"What? Pause for a second. Where did you find anything like that? I thought you said there was nothing else in the main computers about allies, that you'd gone through it all already?"

Rodney deflated a bit at Elizabeth Weir's words.

"Weelll… I was going through the computers in the lab, the one with the planet simulator things? Well they weren't simulators, they were actually hooked up to the planets but-"

Weir rubbed her temples. "Spit it out, Rodney"

"Right right." Rodney regained his old enthusiasm. "I found evidence of a planet that was home to a group of people who raised large cats like guard dogs."

"You mean like lions and tigers?" Asked Sheppard, putting down the sculpture he was fiddling with on Weir's desk.

"Exactly, but the size of semis"

"How are they doing?" Teyla wanted to know, sounding interested.

"Well that's the problem. Their satellites were knocked out of orbit a long time ago. All I have is the last transmission, and they seemed perfectly happy then."

Weir nodded. "If the MALP shows it's clear, you can go." She said to Sheppard, who nodded and went to prepare his team.

~~~  
>When Sheppard found Ronon, he was helping two other men install a furnace. The generators that powered the climate controls of Atlantis had had to be relocated, so a couple Earth generators had been brought in.<p>

"Giant cats ya' say?" He grunted, when Sheppard told him of their mission.

"As big as semis apparently." Ronon glanced over his shoulder.

"What're semis? Anyway, I think I've been there before. Yeah, I have." The last few bolts were put in place, and Ronon let go of the furnace. "They're good people. I left within three months, before the Wraith could find me. Their cats could handle any wraith foot army, but darts were another thing entirely. When are we leaving?"


	2. Welcome to Atlantis

_Author Note: Thanks for all the favorites and subsriptions guys! Please review if you have ANY questions, or constructive critisisims, or even if you just feel like reviewing ;)_

**Disclaimer: I only own Katerina and the events surrounding her!**

As Sheppard, Teyla, Rodney and Ronon stepped out the Stargate, the first thing they saw was a snarling white tiger at the edge of the forest.

The whole team had guns pointing at the creature within milliseconds.

"I thought you said they were friendly." Sheppard hissed to Rodney. The stargate was in the middle of a large field ringed by what looked like large spruce trees, with a mid-sized, extremely over-grown trail leading away into the distance

"Yeah well the last transmission from this planet was from over 2,000 years ago, so don't blame me!" He hissed back.

The cat lowered its lips, and slowly walked towards the explorers.

"Check the life-signs detector. See if its… masters are anywhere nearby." Sheppard told Rodney, keeping his gun levelled at the cat. It seemed only interested in Ronon, tilting its head in curiosity at the dreadlocked man, making sounds like it was trying to talk.

Teyla gestured with her gun to the cat. "You know… her? Him?"

Ronon shook his head, his laser gun steady. "It was four years ago. I have no idea."

The cat gave up on trying to talk, and gestured with its big head as if to say 'follow me,' and headed back towards the over-grown trail, picking up a mouthful of fabric on its way back into the tree line.

"I'm not getting anything on the detector."

"That's not good" Sighed Sheppard. "Alright, follow the cat."

~~~  
>They followed the tiger down the trail, the only sounds coming from the twigs the humans broke, and Rodney's constant "Not good. Nooooooot good," mutterings at the empty life-signs detector.<p>

The cat knocked aside most of the undergrowth as it made its way along, but Ronon and Sheppard had their knives out the hack some of the more stubborn shrubbery away.

The trail ended in a large clearing, with a mountain range at the back, forest surrounding the other three sides. The village in between the mountains and the forest was in ruins, each house a mess of charred wood and tangled weeds.

"Well crap." Said Sheppard. The tiger turned and looked at them, seeming quite small in the setting of tall mountains in the back, burned and destroyed buildings in the mid ground. Small, considering its belly was about level with Rodney's shoulders.

"I'm pretty sure they kept the place better when I was here." Said Ronon.

The cat stood up, and made its way into the forest to the left, not bothering to look back.

Teyla was about to follow the huge cat, when Ronon put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let it go. It was probably left with instructions to take the next group of people who came through the 'gate to the town."

"So it's just going to live in the wild now? We could take it back; see if we could learn anything about its kind."

The tiger, who was barely visible in the trees by now, snarled loudly.

"Well, now we know what it thinks about THAT idea." Said Rodney absentmindedly as he fiddled with the detector.

"Wraith, you think?" Asked Sheppard, poking the burnt wood with his gun.

"That, or Genii, maybe?" Teyla wondered, looking around

Sheppard shook his head. "If it was just Genii, then why didn't their guard... cats take care of them?"

"It would have to have been space ships." Rodney said, as he finally got the detector to do what he wanted to. "Definitely Wraith energy signatures

"Can we go now?" Asked Ronon, bored.

"Without saying hello to an old friend? Ronon, I thought your manners were better than that." Said a voice from the forest.

Ronon looked extremely confused, until he saw the girl with long black hair wearing loose black pants and a pale brown tunic with leather bracers on her arms emerging from the forest. She was about five feet eight inches. He black hair hung all the way to her waist, framing her slender body and brilliant blue eyes that were set in a very pale face.

"Katerina?" The girl leaned on a tree and nodded, looking over the rest of the team who now all had guns pointed at her (Ronon excepted).

Ronon gestured at the girl. "Katerina, this is Sheppard, Teyla, and Rodney."

"I'd say nice to meet you, but…" Sheppard looked around as he lowered his gun, the others doing the same.

"Yup. Official reports about Selania say that everything was completely destroyed, cats and all, and there was nothing left."

"Selania? This city?" Asked Teyla

Katerina was about to reply, when Rodney cut her off.  
>"Not quite, according to the Ancient's computer, that's the name of the planet." Katerina frowned at the interruption, but nodded.<p>

"Almost two years ago. I've been alone ever since."  
>"You and the cat." Said Ronon, and a weird look crossed Katerina's face for a second.<p>

"Me and the cat."

"You know her?"

"She was the one who took care of me when I came through their 'gate with four, no, five broken bones." Ronon said to Weir's question. They were by the door of the medical room, watching Doctor Beckett making a fuss over his new patient, take blood samples and asking her if she had any pains here or there, to which she always responded she'd never been sick a day in her life and suspected that wouldn't change. Saying that as a doctor herself, she would know. She scowled as Beckett shoved another needle in her arm, tapping her fingers on the edge of the bed impatiently.

"What do you know about her?" Weir wanted to know, tapping her fingers on the door frame.

"She's good with music, isn't too fond of killing, but will if she has to. She seemed completely trustworthy when I knew her, but it's been a few years. I suspect she has had a few… changes in her life since then."

"I suppose she has." Said Weir, breathing out a sigh through her nose. "Could you bring her to my office when Doctor Beckett is done?" Ronon nodded.

~~~  
>"I keep telling you, I'm fine!" Katerina said with considerable exasperation to Doctor Beckett.<br>"I'll be the judge of that, missy." Said the Doc, his Scottish accent thick.

"I learned a while ago, never argue with Beckett. You're not going anywhere." Said Ronon, sitting on the other side of the bed.

"Hmmmm." Said Katerina absentmindedly as Beckett stuck another needle in her arm. "I thought we'd already done this!" She said, rolling her eyes.

"Before it was for a blood test, this one goes to the scientists, so they can look at your genetic makeup."

Katerina's eyes widened in something that, to Ronon, almost looked like fear. The expression was gone before he could really analyze it, and she was just the girl who had taken care of his injuries four years ago.

"Alright, that should do you." Said Beckett, removing the needle from her arm and wiping her elbow clean with some disinfectant.

"Freedom!" She hollered, throwing her arms up in the air and hopping off the bed with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?' Ronon asked, raising his eyebrows. Katerina shook her head as she practically skipped out the infirmary door.

"I'm just not a patient person." She grinned back at him. "You gonna show me around this place?" She asked, rapping her knuckles on the metal wall as she dodged a science team moving down the hall.

Ronon nodded.


	3. Initiation

_A/N: Sorry for not posting in a while. School has started and it makes me busy :( Anyway, hope you like the new chapter! ^_^_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Stargate Atlantis, I do however own Katerina and the events surounding her life **

"Hello, Katerina. Please have a seat." Said Weir, gesturing to the chair on the other side of her desk. It was a day after Katerina had arrived on Atlantis, and she was impressed with the structure. The ocean had impressed her the most, never having seen anything like it before.

Katerina gave a small smile and sat down, "So, what are you going to do with me now?" She asked rather shyly.

"Well, that depends on what you want. You're more than welcome to stay, if you want. Or we could dial any planet you wanted to go to."

Katerina frowned a little. "You're not kicking me out? That's how I thought this would go down, not going to lie. I mean, after all, I'm a stranger, another mouth to feed."

Weir nodded. "That's true, but we have more than enough room, and we could use your help. Tell us about your people." Katerina pulled her legs up onto the chair she was sitting in, and hugged them to her chest, feeling like a kid being called to the principal's office at school to explain why she'd put syrup in someone's hair or something.

"I would like to stay, if I could. And when Doctor Beckett gets his lab results back, if I could help out with… What did Ronon call them? Off-world missions? I would quite like to help with those, if they hurt the Wraith in any way." A flame had kindled in her voice as she spoke of the Wraith, and angry flame. She was ready to help in the fight against the Wraith, after all the time she had spent hiding.

"About that. Could you tell me about what happened on your home world?" Asked Weir, watching the other woman for signs of a break down.

"Sure. It was an ordinary night, quiet even." Katerina's eyes got a glazed look to them, as she remembered the fateful night her planet met its doom.

"We're sitting ducks out there! The cats can't take much more!" Shouted her older brother; he NEVER got mad, but now, with his shoulder length blonde hair singed, and deep, oozing wounds on his arm, he was pissed. Red was the most level-headed person in Kat's family, tall, broad shouldered, overly muscled; he seemed to be the prime candidate for anger issues. But no, that was Katerina, the willowy, dark haired girl most people said looked like a princess who had troubles with her temper.

"We don't have any other options!" Her father, the leader of the village yelled back, just as wounded and burned looking as his son, black hair smoking slightly. There were explosions all around.

When the sun rose that morning, no one thought that they would be fighting for their lives as the sun set. It had been Katerina's wedding day, or, as she had called it, the day she got the death penalty.

Her and her maids of honour had been in Katerina's messy bedroom, helping her apply eye shadow, and squeeze into the white, sleeveless gown that represented the extermination of Katerina's freedom.

Her father was walking her up to the altar, trying to comfort her as she fought back tears of despair, telling her that even though he was forcing her to marry the horrible man and the end of the line, he still loved her. Then the Wraith attacked.

"Let me help! Heck let all the women help! We can fight back too you know!" Said Katerina, desperate to help her village before it was completely decimated by the fire raining down from the hive ships in orbit. She had ripped her wedding gown so it was knee length instead of brushing the floor, dust and dirt from struggling with a few Wraith footmen outside caking the garment. Her carefully applied makeup smeared around in racoon eyes that made her look like a vengeful demon. "This culling is different! Their taking more of us than normal. There are not going to stop unless and until we destroy them!"

Her father gave her the honour of considering her words, before giving her brother the order that would change everything for Katerina.

"Take Kat. Get her to the Ring, and make sure she gets somewhere safe, then come back here."

Katerina's eyes widened in shock. "No! I won't leave you! I won't leave my people…" She lost her train of thought, and right before she passed out, she noticed the dart in her shoulder, and the blowgun in her brother's hand.

She had never seen Red look so sad.

Her father caught her before she hit the floor, and the last thing she heard from his worn-out throat was a choked "I love you" before it went dark.

Katerina regained consciousness in one of the most disconcerting ways possible: in a small room, with her left leg chained to the frame of a huge bed, in a room that was painted bright pink with lime green trim. She groaned and closed her eyes, the bright, cheery colours hurting her head. As she peered out from under her eyelids, she noted that she was lying on top of the thick fluffy bedspread that was the same bright pink as the walls, with dancing red hearts. Someone had no idea how to decorate.

Kat's head was still covered in a fuzz of confusion when someone knocked tentatively, the door to her right opening a crack.

"There had better be a good reason I'm tied to a bed, or heads will roll." Katerina growled. There was a squeak from behind the door, and it shut, only to be opened moments later by an extremely short bald man who Katerina recognized as Bo, the leader of the Delantonians, one of Selania's closest trading partners.

"What the heck, man?" Kat demanded, shaking the leg with the shackle on it, the chain clanking against the bedpost.

Bo sighed and made his way up to the bed, but stayed out of arms reach.

"I'm sorry, Katerina, but your brother was adamant that we keep you confined, and my little sisters room was the only room available other than the dungeons." Katerina froze at the mention of her brother, the wads of cotton filling her mind disappearing as she remembered what had happened on the day of her wedding.

"You got to let me go! I have to go back home! I have to-"She was in full panic mode when Bo interrupted her while making calming gestures with his hands.

"Katerina, you were brought here over two months ago, we've been keeping you asleep."

Katerina's whole body twitched, then went still.

Katerina faltered in her story telling, and then continued.

"I managed to... convince Bo to let me go, and when I got back to Selania, everything was destroyed."

Weir politely looked away as Katerina wiped something out of her eye.

"That is terrible." She said, turning back to Katerina. The other woman let go of her legs, and sat up straight, dry eyed.

"I resigned myself to it a long time ago. I planet hopped for a while, but I always came back home. Staying in caves. I never tried to rebuild anything."

Weir gave a smile.

"We'll see about that position. We have standard testing every member has to go through. After that, we'll see."

Kat nodded. "When does this testing start? I have nothing better to do with my time."

"If Sheppard is free, then right away."

"Don't be afraid to hit me." Said Sheppard, as him and Katerina circled in the middle of the wrestling room, Kat in a borrowed karate gi, Sheppard in his own. Katerina had pulled her waist length black hair into a sloppy bun, to keep it out of the way. Teyla, Ronon, and several marines were standing on the sidelines. Katerina had sparred with her older brother all the time when her village was whole, and was used to an audience. Not many people found a need for learning hand-to-hand combat when the cats were around, and everyone went around with large daggers strapped to their waists.

"I'm not." Smirked Katerina.

"She's not," Ronon confirmed from the side. "She beat me. Mind you, I was half healed, and I insisted on it. But she's good."

Sheppard shot a look towards the tall Satedan. "Are you sure I'm the one who should be doing this?"

"Ya' got no choice, Sheppard. You're the leading military officer." Said one of the marines, only half hiding his laughter.

"You, Johnson, just want to see me get hurt." Sheppard said, pointing an accusatory finger at the loud mouthed culprit.

"And you will if you don't start paying attention." Sing-songed Katerina, making a show of checking her nails.

"Right." From then on, it was serious business. Serious business lasted about three minutes, then Sheppard was pinned to the floor with Katerina's arm on his throat.

"Okay, okay. I yield." He said, slapping the mat.

"Awww, I haven't even broken a sweat!" Katerina grinned, letting him go.

Sheppard rubbed the arm that Katerina had twisted behind his back earlier on in the fight, and winced.

Johnson and most of the other marines were laughing, never having seen their commanding officer being beaten by a girl other than Teyla.

"Maybe you'd like to give it a go, Johnson?" Said Sheppard, scowling jokingly at him.

"Nope, I think I'm good. Wouldn't want to rearrange a pretty lady's face too much." Johnson laughed.

Katerina raised one eyebrow, smirking at the cocky man.

"I'll have a go," Said Ronon. "See if you can beat me again." He said with a slightly predatory smile.

Katerina rolled her shoulders, tilting her head to look at him quizzically in a way that reminded Ronon of… something, he couldn't remember what, and then she was grinning.

"Sure, why not. At least you don't have broken ribs to worry about this time," She paused and considered. "Or a broken ankle, or arm, or-" Ronon rolled his eyes.

"I know I know. Can we get on with it?" He asked, pulling his dreadlocks back with a leather tie.

They were both good, really good, in fact, but after ten or so minutes of fighting Ronon managed to get Katerina in a headlock that she couldn't break. She laughed, breathless, happy to find someone who could compete with her on a fighting level that wasn't her brother.

"Yup. You're still skilled." Ronon said, out of breath, rubbing the spot on his ribs she had landed a pretty good kick on.

"Same to you," I groaned. "I don't think I'll be able to use my legs again."

Ronon laughed.


	4. Surprise

Katerina took a deep breath and knocked on Weir's office door. After sparring with Ronon, she had taken a shower, trying to figure out how to tell her new family about the secret her planet had kept for generations. She had eventually decided to show Weir; otherwise, there was no way she would believe Katerina.

"Come in."  
>Katerina took another deep breath, and opened the door.<p>

"Katerina, hello," said Weir with a smile. "Do you like your room?" She wanted to know.

"Yes, it's very nice" Kat smiled. "I wanted to tell you... oh jeez. I don't know how to say this." Weir gestured to the chair in front of her desk, very confused.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I wanted to show you something before you made any decision about whether or not to keep me. It is the most closely guarded secret that we had on Selania, and it's hard to break a life-time of silence about it." Kat said nervously, wringing her hands in her lap. This was the hardest thing she had ever had to do, besides almost marrying the nobleman her father chose for her. Karerina's mind was a whirlwind of smoke and spider webs, as the innermost parts of her tried to figure out ways of not telling the secret she had been trained to keep even in the painful claws of torture and death.

"Well, now you've got me interested!" Said Weir with a smile, waiting patiently for the woman to spill the beans.

Katerina took a deep breath. "I thought maybe it would be easier to show you, because there's no way you'd believe me if I just told you to take my word for it." And without pausing, so she didn't have time for second thoughts, she pictured her home planet, about running through the forest as a child, not on two legs, but on four, as a white tiger. She slowly transformed into her preferred halfway form, between a human and her white tiger body. She was still on two legs, but she was covered in fur (her clothes were made of a special material that disappeared as she turned into a tiger), she had a tail and cat ears, fangs, and retractable claws. Weir gasped.

Katerina reversed her transformation, her clothes re-appearing as they were needed, thankfully.

They sat in silence as Weir's brain tried to process what it had just seen.

"That was only halfway," Katerina said quietly. "I can become a twelve-foot-tall white tiger, but there's no room in here." She smirked, looking around Weir's office. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest, and Katerina knew that it wouldn't be so hard to tell the people who needed to know.

"Wha...?" Katerina burst out laughing. It felt good to have the pressure of the secret off her chest, and Weir's facial expression was priceless.

"The Ancients altered our genetic code, made us faster, stronger, and our senses sharper as humans, and we're able to turn into large cats," Katerina thought of her neighbour, Mrs. Finnigann, unable to turn into a cat since her husband died after fifteen years of marriage. "Well, most of us. Oh, and when I show you my full form, make sure to warn everyone that I'm grumpy after changing back." She smirked. The transformation back left her extremely hungry, and generally irritable. No one really knew why, but if there wasn't food nearby, shapeshifters were more likely to lose their temper if people annoyed them.

~~~

"Whatever this is, it had better be important. I have MUCH better things to be doing with me time." Rodney said, sounding extremely irritated.

"It is definitely worth your time, Rodney." Said Weir

"We'll see." He muttered darkly.

Weir had called Rodney, Zelenka, Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard to the viewing area of the infirmary, where Katerina was sitting, fully human, in a paper thin hospital gown, on a hospital bed. Weir had passed on Katerina's warning about her being irritable after the change, getting a sarcastic snort from Rodney.

"Katerina was telling me that the Ancestors tweaked her genetic code, and it sort of... moved the process of evolution along. When she's a human, she's super strong, and has heightened senses. The genetic tweaks also let her and her people turn into large cats."

Rodney blinked. "No, that's quite impossible. There is no way the ancients were able to…"

Zelenka looked through the observation room window, watching Katerina sitting on the bed in the medical room, clunking her ankles together as the dangled a few inches off the ground.

"I really don't see how what you are describing is possible. I mean yes, zee ancients were foolink around with their DNA but-"

"No, Zelenka, it shouldn't be possible, I know what I saw." Said Weir, cutting Zelenka off.

Ronon stood, looking out the window at the slim girl, thinking of all the time they had spent together when he was injured, wondering if it was true. Maybe the real Katerina had been kidnapped and replaced.

"Could you move these beds to the side?" Katerina asked one of the doctors who were milling around diagnostic machines on the edge of the room. Her voice sounded a little distorted through the speakers, but it was definitely her.

Doctor Beckett opened the door to the observation room, and handed Weir the results of Katerina's blood tests.

"Nothing unusual about the results, except her blood cells are abnormally active. And the DNA results found a strange code in her DNA that we couldn't figure out." He glanced at Katerina. "She only has minimal signs of damage from diseases or broken bones, it's strange."

"Alright. Let's see this," Said Weir, tapping her earpiece. "Clear the medical room."

The doctors had moved all the beds to the walls, leaving am empty space around Katerina.

She nodded to Weir, and glanced up at the ceiling about eight feet from the floor.

"I'll do my best to not damage the ceiling."She smirked.

"She was about, what, twelve feet tall on the planet?" Sheppard asked, sort of throwing the question to the room.

"I'd say ten feet at the back, then it just depends what she's doing with her head after that." Rodney said absentmindedly, taking a sip from his coffee and wondering when he'd be able to get back to important things, rather than humouring the strange girl in the medical room.

Katerina's eyes flashed a golden yellow, then back to blue, and she started growing. Even from the observation room, it sounded painful, but Katerina showed no sign of pain. There were popping sounds as her joints re-formed, and she sank to all fours as her knees popped backwards. They could hear the slooshing sounds of internal organs reforming and moving around, and fur sprouted out of her now striped skin, and the paper hospital gown ripped. Now they knew why she insisted on either performing her change by herself, naked, or in a hospital gown. It would hurt to rip out of normal clothes. Her facial structure changed and became distinctly feline, canines appearing indenting her lower jaw, claws pushing out of now fully formed paws.

Zelenka dropped his cup of coffee, Rodney fumbling with his in shock.

Katerina had had to bend her legs to avoid hitting the ceiling, and now lay down on the medical room floor, curling her legs to the side, keeping her eyes on the observation room window. If you had been in Katerina's position, you would have noticed she was actually looking at Ronon, trying to read his face for signs of revulsion, or fear. But not being in Katerina's position, she just seemed to be looking at the observation area in general. Ronon's usually impassive expression was only slightly altered in surprise, but Kat found no fear or disgust in his gaze, and minutely relaxed.

"Bloody hell." Beckett said, leaving the observation room in favour of the medical room, now filled with giant white tiger.

"Whoa," said Ronon.

"And you had no idea about this?" Teyla asked, once she got her voice back.

"'Cause that's a huge thing to look over. 'oh yeah, these people are great, not like they turn into giant cats or anything'" Said Sheppard sarcastically. Ronon shook his head.

"I never knew."

~~~

An hour later, Katerina was still being poked with needles and scanned with various beeping things. She sighed and closed her eyes, putting her head on her paws.

"I don't know how your people kept a secret like this all those years," said Ronon from his perch on one of the beds near the wall, using his knife to peel an apple.

Katerina opened one eye, peered at him for a couple seconds, then grunted and closed it again.

"I mean, I can keep a secret, don't get me wrong, but that is a huge secret." He said, taking a bite from his apple.

Rodney burst in, a glowing pad in his hand. "That was phenomenal! Do you know how the ancients were able to do that?" Rodney was on her, his scientific curiosity outweighing his caution.

Katerina gave him a snarl, glaring at him with bright blue eyes with dangerous, glowing gold in the middle.

"You honestly think she can talk like that?" Ronon asked, raising an eyebrow. Katerina was back to ignoring them, and was about to snarl a bit, to make them shut up so she could nap, when Beckett sighed and shut off the latest beeping monstrosity.

"Well, we're done here," He said to the tiger, shooing everyone out of the room. "I'll get Teyla to bring your clothes. Rodney seemed a bit disappointed, but left with everyone else,

Ronon shrugged, took another huge chomp out of the apple, and left, spinning the hilt of his knife on the tip of his finger.

When she got her clothes, and Teyla had pulled the door shut behind her, Katerina changed back into her human form and pulled her clothes on, and put all the hospital beds back where they belonged before leaving.


	5. Offworld

**I'm sorry for not updating ! It's no excuse, but school and my social life have been nuts... I'll shut up now. Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it! Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out before a week has gone by -_- Apologies for any spelling/grammar errors**

* * *

><p>The next day, Ronon, Teyla, Katerina and Sheppard were sitting at a table in the mess, eating sandwiches and blue Jell-O, talking about what would happen to the Selanian now that she had gone through the last part of testing (firing range, and she had passed with flying colours).<p>

"So… what now?" Katerina asked Sheppard.

"Well, after a bit more training and some boring protocol lectures, you'll probably get assigned to a team, and start going on off-world missions. I know Johnson is looking to fill a slot in his team."

Katerina swept her long hair into a loose high ponytail with a rubber band she had gotten from Weir, glancing over to the table that Sheppard had gestured to, where Johnson and his team were sitting.

Johnson was an extremely tall man, about 6 feet 5 inches, had close-cut brown hair and laughing green eyes. He seemed nice, but there was a definite edge of menace in the way he held himself, not like he would start a fight out of the blue, but just looking at him, Katerina got the impression there wasn't much the man was afraid of.

"Besides Johnson, there's Sergeant Ramsey," A blonde, wide shouldered man who seemed extremely interested in the food on his tray. "Captain Bellows," Fairly short, black hair, scraggily beard, and ears that stuck comically out to the side. "And Lieutenant Hathmoore" The only woman. She had blonde hair that hit her at shoulder level, and seemed to be laughing at some joke that Johnson had told.

Katerina nodded. "They seem like a good group of people." She observed, taking another bite out of her ham and cheese sandwich.

~~~  
>A little less than two weeks later, Kat was, indeed, put onto Johnson's team, and was formally introduced to them three days after Sheppard had pointed them out to her in the mess.<p>

"Thank the lord! I was sick of being the only girl on this team!" Exclaimed Lieutenant Hathmoore, giving Katerina a tight hug after the raven haired woman had been announced as their new team member.

"Pleasure to have you on the team." Said Sergeant Ramsey, smiling at her.

"Alright, you miserable louts. We've got our first mission with Katerina leaving in an hour. Suit up!" Hollered Johnson. "Briefing in ten minutes!"

"Already?" Katerina asked Hathmoore, a little nervous. Hathmoore nodded, grinning at the new recruit.

"It's an easy one, no problem."

"So remind me again WHY we care that a Genii safe house got taken over by a Wraith cruiser?" Asked Captain Bellows, scowling at Johnson's back.

"Let's see, one, they're our allies, two, wraith equals bad, and three, Weir told us to."

"How the heck do you move in these things? They're so constricting." Snarled Katerina, trying, and failing, to reach an itchy spot on her back. She was wearing the uniform that Weir had given her, a dark camo vest with lots of pouches over a black shirt with black pants. She was used to loose fitting pants and light tops, easy to move in. She also had a P90 strapped to her chest. She liked the P90. Judging by her practice on the firing range on Atlantis it did a lot of damage, but it was a lot easier to use her claws and teeth.

The planet they were on was lush with evergreen trees, but had minimal undergrowth, which made walking easier. But she'd be damned if there was a more restricting way of moving than in the clothes she was in.

"You'll get used to it." Said Lt. Hathmoore.

"Hmm." Katerina grunted, then the world exploded.

~~~  
>"IT'S JOHNSON! WE'RE COMING IN HOT!" came the crackling transmision through to the radio on Atlantis. "HAVE A MEDICAL TEAM READY, HATHMOORE IS INJURED!"<p>

"Medical team to the gate room." Weir said into her earpiece. "Lower the shield." She told Bates. Through their still open radio link, they heard blasts from Wraith weapons, punctuated by loud P90 bursts. Security teams aimed guns at the stargate, and just as the shield lowered, a blast from a wraith dart got through, quickly followed by Hathmoore being carried by Bellows and Ramsey. Right after Hathmoore was taken away by the medical team, Johnson and Katerina thundered through the gate, the later in cat form, with bits of shredded uniform clinging to her fur. Another blast made its way through the gate, hitting the wall and leaving an impressive scorch mark. Katerina's normally blue eyes were blazing yellow/gold, with a narrow ring of blue around the outside, and she let out a huge roar that shook Atlantis to its stardrives.

Ten minutes later, after the gate room had been cleared, she was still agitated, huge paws padding along the floor of the gate room, growls and snarls echoing in the enclosed space.

"Maybe you should talk to her." Said Sheppard to Ronon.

"Why me?" The Satedan looked confused.

"Because she knows you! And I'd say she trusts you more than anyone else here."

The cats ears had flicked towards their conversation, and her head followed, the predatory golden eyes seeming to bore through the two men sitting in the control room with Weir, Bates, and Teyla.

"Alright. If I'm not back in five minutes, assume the worst." Ronon said, elbowing Sheppard in the ribs before standing up and heading down the stairs to the gate room.

"Hey there." A growl "You're in a good mood." She turned her back on him and kept pacing. "Want to talk about it?" No response. "There was nothing you could have done." This brought another snarl from the cat, her massive teeth glimmering in the light of the gate room as she pulled her lips back.

Katerina pictured the events of her first off-world mission in her head again. The three cruisers had come out of nowhere. They had seemed to be laughing at the pitiful bullets that bounced off their hulls, while their energy blasts had made small craters in the ground. If she had been wearing her lighter clothes, she could have changed forms quicker, taken the cruisers out of the air. But the heavy camo pants and vest hadn't torn easily enough, and she hadn't been fast enough, even though she had started shifting when she realized the bullets weren't doing anything. Now Hathmoore had horrible burns on the left side of her body. It was ALL HER FAULT.

She roared loudly and swiped at the floor in frustration, leaving slight indents with her claws.

"There. Was. Nothing. You. Could. Have. Done." Repeated Ronon.

She turned on him, exposing canines as long as his forearm in an open-mouthed snarl.

Ronon leaned back slightly, slight fear showing in his eyes, but otherwise showed no other sign of terror.

"You're not normally like this," He observed. "Maybe it was something you ate?" Katerina sat down with a fwump that shook the gate room, her eyes cooling to blue, but a little gold staying in the middle. She lowered her head to Ronon's level and peered at him with her bright blue eyes.

Inside those bright eyes, he saw unbearable pain, and regret. He reached out, and ran a hand through the soft fur on her face, which seemed to calm her, she closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, purring loudly. Where his fingers touched the skin hiding under her thick fur, bursts of static electricity traveled into his arm. Eventually, Katerina opened her eyes; they were almost entirely blue, the amount of gold the same as when she was a human. Ronon realized he knew too much about Kat's eyes.

She hung her head in shame and pulled away from Ronon. She walked towards the doorway before realizing there was no way for her to fit through. Her clothes were in her room, and they wouldn't magically appear on her body, like she sometimes wished they would.

In the control room, Weir opened the jumper doors above her head, and Katerina nodded her thanks before launching herself into the air and pulling her large body into the hanger. This wasn't as hard as one would imagine, giving that normal tigers could leap 4 metres into the air. Katerina was big, so was her jumping power. Teyla had slipped out of the control room and had left a pile of clothes just inside the hanger doors.

~~~  
>"I'm sorry," Was the first thing out of Katerina's mouth when she saw Weir. "I know I could have helped more if I had been able to change forms sooner. All my anger was aimed at myself. I'm sorry." Her head was hanging in shame.<p>

Weir put her hand on Kat's shoulder. "It's okay. You got stressed. Johnson told me that if it wasn't for you, Hathmoore's injuries would have been worse. She'll be back on duty within a month."

"That's great!" Katerina brightened.

"You did a good job," Smiled Weir, patting Kat on the shoulder before continuing on her way.

"No more uniforms. I'll keep the gun, because they're better for long range killing, but I'll wear my own clothes that are easy to get out of if I'm in a hurry." Weir nodded.

"Fair enough."

Ronon and Katerina had taken to sparring almost every day, because the two were both very skilled, and challenged each other's abilities as fighters. Sometimes they would fight bare handed, sometimes with wooden sparring sticks, or with actual knives. A couple of days after Katerina's off-world incident, the first time they had sparred since, halfway through their practice while they were getting a drink from their water bottles, Katerina glanced at Ronon.

"I really appreciate what you did for me in the gate room, but next time my eyes turn yellow-gold like that, stay as far away as possible." Ronon took a swig from his water bottle.

"Why?"

"Because on my planet, every now and then, a shapeshifter is born a berserker. They, I should say we, lose complete control over our cat when we're overtaken by a strong negative emotion. The cat is ruled by instinct, and it will do whatever it feels in necessary to remove the cause of the emotion."

He regarded her from across the room, setting down the water bottle.

"How will I know if you've lost control?"

Kat breathed out a sigh of relief. If he was asking questions, then he would probably agree to what she was about to ask him.

"My eyes will turn yellow-gold, completely, so not even whites or pupil remain. The general destruction and anger I'll be displaying will be a pretty good indicator, too. When I shift, there will always be a bit of gold, even to the point that the only blue left is a ring on the outside of my eye, like the other day. But if my eyes turn completely gold... Ronon. I need to ask something of you. If I EVER lose control like that, no one will be safe around me, not even my friends. If I ever lose complete control, I need to know that I can count on you to... stop me," He didn't respond. "I need to know that you're willing to take me down if I pose a threat to _any _human being, Ronon."

He turned away from her and looked out the window in the training room wall, and slowly nodded.

"Good."

* * *

><p><strong>Please review! Like I said, hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out by next ThursdayFriday**


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